Since I haven't read the Shannara series I'm not familiar with this universe or what it's about exactly, but just judging from the trailers and description alone it is definitely a high fantasy series with plenty of rich world-building and characters. If this does well, I have a feeling it may be the answer to those looking for a Game of Thrones replacement. Despite it being on MTV, which understandably may repel some people, just seeing the trailers and behind the scenes stuff alone shows that they've given The Shannara Chronicles quite a large budget to produce. Granted a big budget doesn't always equal quality, but since it looks like a fantasy version of The 100 it may pleasantly surprise people. Plus it was filmed in New Zealand, which is considerably a good sign when you take into account the other epic fantasy films and series that have been filmed there (see: Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Legend of the Seeker, Xena: Warrior Princess). If this gains popularity, hopefully there will be more fantasy series along this vein. I miss having some epic fantasy and even lighthearted fantasy shows on television. When you have a mixture of the two, or something that holds strong in its own storytelling, adapted or not, it can become something great. Not everything has to be "darker and edgier" in order to be taken seriously or be considered good storytelling.

Just based on the context of the trailers, how well do you think the show will do with the source material? Do you think non-fans of the books are going to understand what is going on, or will it be a complete mindfuck?

It looks like they're going to explain things to non-book fans like a totally new show. They've added some snarkiness to the dialogue and added some characters. Do you have questions about the setting?

I understand the basic aspect of the setting, based from what I've been reading to get the overall concept of the story and plot; it's set sometime in the future after a nuclear holocaust where magic now thrives and where it converges with technology and science and whatnot. I know it's more complicated than that, but that's something I find rather cool and interesting, and it makes me wonder how it'll translate on the show.

Since you're a fan of the series, what are some things that you like about it? What are some thing you're looking forward to them adapting, and what do you hope they don't fuck up? Or, altneratively, is there something you want them to steer away from (like how Legend of the Seeker steered clear from the direction of the books and did their own fun thing)? Or just something else that you think that would sell me on the series itself?

Do you know when things like the demons being sealed away in the Forbidding, the Great Wars, the Warlock Lord etc. happened in relation to one another, and where the Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes and Trolls come from?

Shannara is...a weird series in the genre and kind of an odd choice of a show, tbh. It comes off as high fantasy, especially very early on, but edges around a scifi basis before it switches and goes full blown scifi/fantasy mashup. No joke, there's airships and lasers and cyborgs and magic songs and druids later on, and the villains in a later trilogy are a reptile-human mutant thing that eats souls/brains, and a security AI that's figured out how to make zombies gone haywire.

Judging from where they're starting, it's right at the turning point or near the turning point where it transitions from the high fantasy era and more into the Industrial era, assuming they stick to the books. Which means they're going to do a mood flip several seasons in, or go on their own route.

That said, the series isn't...a particularly cheery one, per se. The setting is basically Earth several hundred years after a worldwide nuclear holocaust coinciding with a demonic invasion, followed by a nasty fallout. And there's a decent body count per book, etc.

No joke, there's airships and lasers and cyborgs and magic songs and druids later on, and the villains in a later trilogy are a reptile-human mutant thing that eats souls/brains, and a security AI that's figured out how to make zombies gone haywire.

That all sounds ridiculously awesome. As much as I enjoy flat-out high fantasy universes, having a mashup of scifi/fantasy is even better, imho.

When you take into consideration it's an adaptation, it could go either way. It would be interesting if they kept it completely faithful to the source material and see the kind of mindfuck they'll give the audience, especially those unfamiliar with the books (like myself). But if they did take an alternative route, not completely away from the book canon but enough that it didn't follow it directly, then it would be fascinating to see what they do, story-wise and content-wise.